Sacrificial Maidens and Roaring Dragons
by ZombifiedMira
Summary: AU / All Levy had wanted was a book. Getting knocked out, tied up, and offered up to a dragon as a living sacrifice was never in the plan at all! Now, she's playing "hostage" until the foreseeable future and somehow, she doesn't think she'll be making it back in time to return those library books. [ON HIATUS]
1. Sacrificed

**AU / A random AU that was intended to be a simple one-shot, but after reaching the 14k+ word mark, I gave in and accepted it was to be a multi-chaptered fanfiction. Had this in the works since October last year.**

**Enjoy, updates will be every Wednesday.**

* * *

She sighed.

Pulling experimentally at the bonds that tied her hands and feet to the pole, the young women wiggled, hoping for them to be some sort of room to work with. Unfortunately, the townsfolk seemed pretty skilled in tying knots, and even that small movement made the rope dig painfully into her exposed skin.

Biting back a yelp, her head slumped forward in defeat. What more could she do?

Suddenly noting movement, the petite bluenette glanced up towards the crowd of citizens watching her from a distance. The mayor who was a young, stern-looking woman began to stride over, flanked on either side by two largely built men. She glared at them heatedly as the distance between them decreased, holding her head high in the air defiantly and refusing to look away.

"Apologies." The mayor murmured, stopping a few feet away from her. "It seems you've suffered a number of minor injuries. I _did_ instruct them to be gentle with you but I can assure you punishments will be dealt."

Her glaring intensified. The so called injuries relating to the nasty bump on the back of her head where she'd been knocked unconscious with a god damn chair.

She was never trusting kind, old ladies again.

"Rayne, if you please."

As the glint of metal reflected in the dark, all courage she'd managed to hold on to, dropped from her face in an instant and into a pathetic puddle at her feet. Her eyes widened in horror because _ohmygod_ – she was actually gonna get killed by these people.

"Don't worry. We'll make it quick." The mayor assured her as if that would make her somehow feel better, turning as she began to walk away.

_OhGodohGodohGod!_

Her chest began to heave with her frantic breathing as the knife wielding man began to advance towards her, head shaking and beads of perspiration dotting her forehead as she broke out in a cold sweat. Desperate cries were muffled by the rope tied around her mouth, making the chance of a passing traveller hearing her screams and coming to rescue all the more unlikely.

She could almost see guilt in the man's gaze as he closed the distance, her eyes too focused on the tip of the weapon to give it any more thought.

How the hell had she allowed herself to get into this mess?

* * *

**NINE HOURS EARLIER**

"Ouch! These shoes."

She glared at the offended items as she stopped (again!) in her walking to slide them back on properly, the things had been falling off like this ever since she was a good few miles away from her own town – a distance which from here had taken about two hours on the train and a further one hour walking.

"Just a little further." She reassured herself, spotting the small town ahead in the valley.

That was enough encouragement to get her moving onward, covering the last amount of distance fairly quickly. Entering the town, seventeen year old Levy McGarden felt a smile light up her face at the beauty of the quaint town. And barely five minutes had passed before her eyes fell upon a certain store, a grin surfacing as she quickly walked over to glance in the shop window.

Books.

Her eyes fell on a certain paperback on display and her eyes lit up euphorically. Yes, the journey had definitely been worth it! Her hunch was right, if such an old book on fairy tales and folklore couldn't be found in the big cities, then it was right to begin searching small towns on the fringes of the countryside. This town itself was known for its fascination with folklore and superstition according to rumours, hence why she'd bothered to make the visit.

"Um, can I help you Miss?"

"Hm?" Her eyes slid over to the side to find a young girl nervously watching her from the shop doorway as she wrung her hands.

It was then Levy also noticed she had her hands and face practically pressed up against the window, and tearing herself away she offered a sheepish smile. "Hi, um can you tell me how much this book is?"

The girl's eye slid over to the tome in question. "Oh, erm… I-I'm not sure, I'm just the assistant here, my mother runs the shop."

"Oh…" She deflated some.

"She'll be back later on."

Her smile reappeared. "Ah okay, I'll come back then. Can you hold onto the book for me?"

"S-Sure."

With one last wave at the nervous seeming girl, Levy turned around to walk away...

Only to realise everybody was staring at her.

She blinked, gaze flitting as each passing person glanced at her warily. "W-Why is everybody staring at me?" She asked, taking a hesitant step back.

The girl flinched at her voice. "Oh, well…" As Levy turned her gaze, the girl shrunk beneath it, giving Levy the idea that this girl wasn't very good at socialising with others. "We don't get visitors often…"

"Oh."

Returning her gaze to the town, she bit the inside of her cheek. They weren't openly staring any more, but she could still see the side glances cast her way. It was a bit unnerving being the centre of attention but she supposed it was to be expected when visiting a town so far out from civilization.

Well, she might as well look around some more.

Knowing she'd be staying overnight, she tried finding somewhere to stay. Unfortunately though, the town turned out to have no inns or guest houses what so ever, so she'd either have to find a citizen kind enough to let her sleep over, or – _and she really didn't want to do this_ – she'd have to go all the way back home. She groaned at the very thought of making the return journey in the same day.

After a good half hour of walking around – there wasn't really much to look at since it was so small – she entered the fringes of the woods that encompassed the west side of the town all the way to the distant mountains, choosing to sit down on a boulder as she let her luggage drop to the floor.

Having an entire town paying attention to you was a bit exhausting.

Removing her shoes, the teenager fell onto her back, eyes closing and taking in a deep breathe. Ah, it was nice with the sun shining down on her here. Perhaps she could camp out tonight, that would solve her sleeping problem at least.

She didn't even notice she'd fallen asleep till she rolled off the boulder and onto the forest floor.

With a loud '_thump_', the young teen got a face full of leaves, eyes snapping open as she sputtered and sat up, rubbing her rear which had gotten bruised in the fall. "Ow..."

A chuckle.

Levy froze at the sudden sound, head whipping around for the source of it. After many feverish glances, her eyes finally fell on a shadowed figure stood leaning against a tree not far off.

She swallowed thickly.

As his low chuckle faded, he turned his head to stare at her, Levy shrinking slightly under the gaze of the intimidating looking man.

"Who are you?" She murmured.

Pushing himself away from the tree, he folded his arms as he turned towards her. "A valued member of this town." There was a pause before he cocked an eyebrow. "What about you? You're not from around here are ya?"

Standing up and brushing her clothing down, she glanced up to meet his gaze. "No, I'm just visiting."

He snorted. "You stick out like a sore thumb."

"Wha?" She gaped at him, placing her hands on either hip. "What's that mean?"

He gave her a pointed look. "Your clothing for one."

"My clothing?" She repeated, glancing down at herself curiously.

"Yeah. Specifically, your _lack _of it."

Her face reddened. "T-T-This is normal for where I come from!" She blurted, now self-conscious. Was that why everybody had been staring at her? Personally she saw nothing wrong with it, so what if she wore clothing that flashed her stomach and legs, it wasn't exactly 'revealing' compared to what some girls in her hometown wore.

But then again, this was north so it was probably customary to wear more warmer clothes over here.

"Also." The stranger went on, amused by her reaction. "None of those in the town enter the woods."

She blinked. "Eh? Why?"

"Their superstitious and believe there's some huge and scary monster living in the woods."

"Monster? Like big-foot?"

He let out a snort. "Hardly. Think bigger."

"I don't get it." She retorted, staring blankly.

"Dragon."

"Oh." A pause before she chuckled. "Yeah right, they went extinct centuries ago."

"Hmmm." The man mused, his eyes watching her. Levy fidgeted under his silent gaze, it was quite unnerving talking with somebody who you couldn't even see properly under the shadow of the trees. "Don't stay in the woods too long, return to the town before it gets dark, never know what could come out and grab you here."

She smiled at the comment.

"I'm not joking."

Oh.

The smile vanished.

"O-Okay." She replied. "I'm only staying here till tomorrow anyway… _That is if I can get this book_." She whispered the last part to herself as an afterthought, glancing aside thoughtfully.

"Book?"

She froze, eyes darting back to him. No way… How the hell had he heard her from so far away?

"Um, y-yeah." She replied, a bit unnerved by his super-hearing. "I like to collect books so I travel occasionally if I'm having trouble finding one in particular. I read a lot."

"You're smart then?"

"Well… I like to think so." She said modestly, blushing slightly. "I-I mean, I'm very good in languages."

"Really?" The man seemed to stand up straighter at this, interest in his voice, "How good?"

"Well… Give me the right books and I can translate ancient languages, runes even."

"Huh." Despite the small reply, he seemed impressed, causing Levy to blush further. She wasn't used to being praised or having people take an interest in her hobby.

"Well, see ya." With a nod and seemingly nothing more to say, the stranger turned and walked off.

Levy almost asked why he was walking _away_ from the village, but then decided against it – she'd had enough conversation with the random stranger in the woods today.

Grabbing her things, she soon returned to the village. It was much quieter she noticed, despite being only early afternoon, the streets were practically empty aside from the odd person.

Maybe that girl's mother would be back by now.

* * *

"Thank you! Thank you!" Levy squealed, taking the book in her hands as she handed over several thousand jewels. "Wow, I've been searching for this for ages."

The old lady smiled earnestly. "It's nice to make a customer happy."

She beamed at the elderly woman, who was _much_ more social that her younger daughter. And clutching the book to her chest, glanced outside the shop window. What to do now?

"Do you need a place to stay dear?"

"Hm?" She glanced back. "Oh. Yes."

"Then how about staying here?"

Her eyes widened and she leaned over. "Really?"

"I have a spare room you can use."

She broke into a smile. "Thank you, how much?"

"Oh! No cost… I'm just happy to have a visitor here for once."

This lady was so nice!

"Thank you!"

"Dinner's at 5, feel free to go look at your room. Second floor, first room on the left."

"Okay!"

She never suspected anything.

* * *

Her eyes snapped open, body flying upright a second later.

Levy frowned in confusion as she stared at the strange and unfamiliar bedroom, why was she here again?

Ah, right, that old lady offered her a place to stay.

But…

She ran a hand through unkempt hair and lifted the blanket, her confusion increasing when she realised she was still in her clothes. Trying to think back on what she could remember, she attempted to piece together what had happened.

She remembered the lady's young daughter – Emily – showing her room. She read a bit in her room with the book she'd just bought – some interesting tales about dragons. Then there was dinner which was delicious! She told the old lady so… And then…

Nothing.

Nervous at her loss of memory, she climbed out of the bed, suppressing a yawn since she still seemed tired and the bed looked so inviting...

Wait, no!

She had to figure out what was going on.

From the window she could see it was dark out now, meaning a least a good few hours had passed – the sun hadn't even begun setting when she sat down for dinner. Walking over to the window, she peeked through the gap in the curtains, her eyes wandering down the street.

Huh?

She frowned, noticing a fairly large crowd of townsfolk in the middle of the street – infact, they seemed to be waiting directly in front of _this_ place. As she moved to get a better look, one of the men on the edge of the crowd glanced up. Darting backwards, Levy held in a gasp, hoping he hadn't seen her.

Ah, but wait, _why_ did she hope that?

But… For some reason she felt uneasy. She had to get out of here.

She turned around to leave only to come face to face with Emily. The older girl stood in the doorway, eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at Levy.

"Oh, hi Emily." Levy said, smiling.

The girl simply stared in something akin to horror.

It was then Levy's eyes slid down to what she held in her hand, stomach dropping at the sight.

Rope.

Lots of it.

Her eyes flitted towards Emily's face, guilt washing over the girls expression as she glanced to the side to avoid her gaze. "S-Sorry…" She whispered.

She needed to get out of here.

Running past her, Levy rushed out of the room, feet slapping against the wooden floor as she reached the stairs and raced down it. She'd go through the back way!

Reaching the bottom step, voices from outside the front came through, the odd word being caught. Heart thumping wildly as she ran into the kitchen, she reached desperately for the back door.

Locked.

Cursing, she looked around for some keys, eyes lighting up when she spotted them on a hook. Ripping them down, she fumbled for a moment, breathing frantic as she pushed the right one into the lock.

_Click._

She'd done it!

Just as that thought registered however, pain exploded from behind her eyes as something collided with her head. Levy stumbled for only a second before she collapsed the floor, head spinning.

"Now, now, dear… You weren't supposed to wake up." A sweet voice whispered from above. "I guess I underestimated the dosage in your meal… Oh well."

Darkness swallowed her.

* * *

And _now_, here she was…

Tied to a pole in front of the forest, a man advancing on her with a knife, and half of the town there as an audience to watch.

And she hadn't even had an explanation of _why_ this was happening.

She could hear the blood pounding in her ears and heart hammering against her chest as the man reached her, adrenaline coursing throughout her body with every step further he came. Oh God.

What about her friends and family?

Would they come looking for her when they realised she wasn't returning?

Would they come _here?_

Wait. What if they were next?

Just as the blade reached out to her neck, her head shook once more with such force that the rope binding her mouth fell down.

She screamed…

And a roar replied.


	2. Hostage

**AN / Thanks for all the alerts and kind reviews, everybody. :) Now, time to get the party started~**

* * *

Everybody froze.

Levy, the man with the knife, the mayor, the crowd… _Everybody._

"It can't be." The man whispered, expression slack.

The roar sounded again, this time closer. Levy attempted to turn her head as best she could, eyes focusing behind her into the night sky. It was too dark though, she couldn't see anything.

But suddenly an ominous wind had picked up.

"Raine!" The mayor yelled desperately. "Do it already!"

"R-Right!"

Levy snapped her head back forward as the man raised the blade, eyes widening and lips parting in horror.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

The blade came down.

She screamed.

And the dragon roared.

Raine stumbled back several feet at the strong wind that suddenly appeared, the blade slashing through nothing but air. Levy stared open mouthed at the terrifying monster that descended down, over-shadowing wings sending uncontrollable gusts of wind across the area – had Levy not been tied up, she could tell for certain she'd have fallen over within a second.

Too large to stand in the small clearing, the dragon settled for hovering several hundred feet in the air above, roaring once again. Levy squeezed her eyes shut at the monstrous sound, sure that even if she _could_ cover her ears, it'd do no good. But, eventually she pried her eyes open once more, gaze wandering over the dragon's form, terrified but amazed by the beauty of the creature she'd only thought possible in fairy tales.

A dragon was actually there in front of her…

With razor claws and deadly teeth, it had an almost metallic appearance from where she stood. Tail lashing and wings beating down in a steady rhythm, it was danger personified itself.

But what amazed Levy the most was the fact the crowd wasn't running away, infact… they were bowing down to the floor!

"Mighty dragon!" The mayor yelled, struggling to hold her footing and push hair out of her eyes. "We give you this girl as a sacrifice!"

Wait, what?

"Please accept our grateful thanks!"

Levy stared open mouthed at the woman. They were making her into dragon food? The beast in question stared down at the townsfolk with reptilian eyes before then it turned its attention onto her.

Oh no.

She barely had time to register what was going on before it dived down, eyes widening in horror as the fire-breathing monster with sharp teeth and ragged claws hurdled towards her from the sky.

Claws ripped through air and the bonds on her arms and legs fell, the surprise this caused being enough for the dragon to strike out and grab her in one of his front claws without protest. Levy was vaguely aware of some of the crowd cheering at this, the mayor's voice rising above the sound of beating wings.

_"Hail the Mighty Metalicana!"_

And it was only when she found herself moving further and further away from the ground, her hair whipping around as she was carried away in the grasp of the dragon that she finally screamed…

And yelled… and hit… and clawed, punched, kicked and basically did everything she could to escape.

"L-Let me down!" She screamed, hitting repeatedly at the firm claws wrapped around her mid-section.

The forest passed by hundreds of feet below; Levy wouldn't be able to see the small town at all now even if she _could_ somehow look behind her from this position.

"I said!" She yelled, putting as much force into her voice as she could, legs kicking uselessly. "Put. Me. Down!"

_"Alright."_

Wha?...

Levy barely had time to register that a _human_ voice had responded before the pressure on her middle suddenly vanished.

She began falling.

She screamed, her throat now hoarse from the number of times she'd done so tonight. The forest floor beneath grew closer and closer, seemingly rising up to meet her as she plummeted evermore down, wind tearing through her clothes and hair. Body condemned to fall with no way to stop it.

She was going to die.

And just as that thought registered and the top of the trees were barely a few seconds away, the young woman suddenly found herself ripped upwards once more as claws secured around her. The forest floor once again growing more distant as they flew higher.

She sucked in deep breathes, eyes bulging as she stared down at what could have been her imminent death simply seconds ago.

The chest above her rumbled slightly and Levy's eyes flicked upwards to the beast above her.

"Th-That wasn't f-funny." She snapped, shivering from shock.

No response was given.

She didn't say another word for the rest of the flight.

* * *

"Oomph!"

Landing face down on the grassy floor beneath them, Levy pushed herself up, her entire body shaking from shock at what had just transpired. She didn't think she could walk now even if she wanted to. They'd flown so far that they'd crossed the entirety of the giant forest, reaching the large mountains that stood at the other side. Had it been a walking journey, that distance would have taken them days to cross at least.

The earth rumbled beneath slightly as the dragon landed beside her, Levy glanced aside at the creature before quickly looking away as she moved to kneel, arms hugging her shivering self. Was this seriously happening?... Being sacrificed by a town of crazy citizens that worshiped an almighty dragon (who, in turn, turned out to be real)?

They were high up in the mountains, the dragon having dropped them off on a grassy ledge. Looking over the edge, she swallowed at how far down the treetops seemed.

"I wouldn't get any closer if I was you." The gruff voice that belonged to the dragon commented. "Not unless you wanna roll down the mountain-side and get torn to shreds."

She snapped her head around to glance over her shoulder, the dragon watching her with an almost calculating glance. Trembling slightly, she slowly turned around, wary to make any sudden movements that might cause an attack. Hands spread out on the grass either side of her, she wondered if there was any chance of escaping. "A-Are you going to eat me?" She asked, attempting to distract the dragon long enough to think up a probable plan of escape.

The dragon – Metalicana was it? That was what the Mayor had yelled before after all – lifted its head, reptilian gaze pinning her to the spot. "Eat you?" It repeated, the human voice flowing clearly from it despite no movement of the jaw at all. What was that? Telepathy? Magic?

"Y-Yeah… Isn't that why you, um… brought me here?" She asked, escape plans stunted slightly by surprise. Everything she knew about dragons from folklore seemed to portray them as man-eating beasts.

A snort. "I don't eat humans."

Oh. Well there went that theory.

As it turned and began to walk in the opposite direction, Levy slowly stood up – legs still shaking slightly but the action at least manageable – and took a few hesitant steps after it. "Then, um, why did you bring me?" What was she doing? Why was she still speaking with it when she could run?

...But, where could she run to? As the dragon had said, she was on a mountain-side with no safe way down that would leave her with her life in place.

The creature stopped again at her question. Neck stretching out as it glanced behind to focus its attention on her once again. "Would ya prefer I left you to be killed?" Annoyance laced its words.

"W-What? No!" She blanched, eyes widening as she shook her hands in front of her. "B-But you mean…" She lowered her hands, staring in surprise. "You saved me?"

"If you want to see it like that, fine."

The fear she held for the creature subsided slightly, a small smile appearing on her face. "T-Thank you... Metalicana."

Its eyes narrowed. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Oh. The mayor from before?…"

Staring at her for a moment, the dragon then turned away once more. "Call me what you wish."

She took that as a 'yes' on the Metalicana.

As the dragon walked on, leaving the ledge behind and delving further into the mountain side, Levy awkwardly glanced to and fro. What was she supposed to do now? Follow it – him – it was a him right? It sounded like a guy…

Or did he expect her to leave now that his duty was done? Maybe he didn't want a human staying with him.

"You comin'?"

Or okay, maybe he did…

When she remained still however, the dragon stopped after a few steps, neck out-stretching once again to stare at her, fangs visible as his lips parted slightly in irritation. "What? You suddenly can't walk?"

Rubbing one arm, Levy bowed her head slightly, still wary to avoid agitating a fifteen foot dragon that could easily toast her if it wished. "Ah... I'm really grateful for you rescuing me, but couldn't you just drop me off on some countryside track or field and I'll get out of your way?"

"No."

"N-No?" She repeated, eyes widening and face going pale as she lifted her head. Did he intend to keep her a prisoner here? She took a step back only to let out a small gasp as the earth beneath her foot crumbled slightly, attention snapping down to notice how close she had gotten to the edge. One more step back and she'd fall to her death.

"Ya see now?"

She glanced back up, gaze meeting his.

"There's no way off this mountain other than flight. You try escaping and you're dead."

Her stomach dropped, the weight of what was actually happening beginning to set in.

"I'm not gonna kill ya, so relax. You'll get off this place eventually. But I rescued you, so I expect a due repayment, human."

"Payment?" She murmured.

"Yeah. You're talented in languages correct?"

She blinked. "How did you…"

"Not important."

"But-"

"Look, all I ask is that ya spend a little further time here working for me." He went on, eyes watching down on her steadily. "Afterwards, I'll drop you off whereever you wish. But until then you're my 'hostage', alright?"

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to start this entire day over, to go back to this morning and stop herself from ever waking up and setting out on this adventure turned nightmare.

But there was nothing she could do.

She was stuck here.

A hostage to a beast.

"Okay..." She whispered, all will lost.

He made a small noise in the back of his throat at her flat reply, seemingly pleased with her answer as he made a head gesture for her to come forward. Walking onward, she passed by him, the dragon turning to follow as she walked shortly further until coming across an entrance that presumably went deeper inside the mountain.

Coming to a halt, Levy lifted her head, staring into the looming darkness that awaited her. It wasn't helped by it being late night, images of boogie monsters and glowing eyes under the bed from her childhood coming back to haunt her. "Is that... your lair?"

"Ya got a problem with that?"

A pause. Levy had already done so many ridiculous and dangerous things in the last twenty-four hours, what was the point in complaining only now?

"No. Nothing."

She walked on.

* * *

Walking in, she placed a hand on the wall of the tunnel-like cavern, coming to a stop after a few feet. "I can't see ahead."

"Just keep walking straight."

Biting her lower lip, she did as he said, fingers trailing across the rocks and taking small tentative steps forward in the darkness. It wasn't a pleasant notion walking ahead blind with no way of seeing what lay ahead. Eventually after a few minutes though, she began to see shapes, coming into the large mountain cavern that must have been the dragon's lair. Eyes adjusting to the near-darkness, she was thankful for the various holes and gaps in the ceiling that allowed moonlight to filter through, allowing her to at least see where she was going to some extent. (Although those probably wouldn't be such a plus when it was raining).

Levy stared above at the high rock ceiling and walls where stalactites protruded down with their sharp ends, feeling rather nervous to be standing under such things. Eyes wandering across the barren and rocky cavern, she felt her mood fall further. She was expected to sleep here? Where it was cold and hard and damp?

"Over here."

Turning around on the spot, she saw Metalicana had moved to perch atop a boulder besides a wall. Navigating through the rocks and dripping water, she clambered up after him, palms and knees scraping against rough stone.

"This is where you'll sleep."

Following where he gestured to, she blinked in surprise. And walking over to the wall, she ran her hands along the edges of the sunken in part, the chunk of wall missing from there was so large that it big enough to be considered a small room almost…

And there was a mattress.

Or, half of one at least.

She stared, because the whole thing looked almost like a bedroom - big emphasis on the 'almost' part. There was a worn out looking mattress with a few blankets, a rusty chest (which she noted had a padlock securing it), as well as some ragged clothing thrown in the corner.

"H-How?..."

He didn't reply.

Turning around, she stared at him with a questioning look. "But you're a dragon… Why would you have such things?"

As their eyes met, he stared back evenly at her. The intensity of it almost making her want to back up.

"You look exhausted, feel free to take a nap."

Ignoring her question, he turned around and soon vanished to elsewhere in the cave – it made her wonder how large this place actually was if it was big enough for a fifteen foot dragon to wander freely around in.

Realising now that yes, she was infact exhausted, she turned towards the make-shift bed. Again, questions came to mind as to why a dragon would have such a human looking habitat within his lair. Grabbing a blanket or two, she wrapped them around herself, curling onto the portion of bed and trying to suppress a shiver. The blankets were scratchy, the mattress was lumpy, and she was cold, alone and miserable.

Maybe she would have been better off if the dragon had never saved her to begin with.

_"Afterwards, I'll drop you off whereever you wish."_

The dragon had said he'd let her leave once she was done doing a favour for him... But, how could she possibly trust a dragon? For all she knew, he was coming to kill her as soon as she fell asleep. Why? Who knew, maybe it was some fetish of his to play with his food.

Pulling the blankets further around her body, she stared blankly ahead, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

Why did the dragon even have these human things here? Probably items that belonged to his previous victims before he killed them...

Just like he'd do to her.

Sniffling, she clamped down on her lower lip with her teeth.

She wouldn't cry.

She was seventeen years old now. Nearly an adult, not a child! She wouldn't give the dragon the further satisfaction of hearing her sobbing!

But.

The tears still came regardless.

Eyes clenching shut, she curled into herself, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

She wanted to go home...

(And she never had gotten the book she came for in the end).

* * *

Hours later, Levy eventually fell asleep, exhausted from her cry-out session.

Standing a few feet away from her sleeping form, and unawares to the teenage girl, a figure watched her silently. Scarlet eyes piercing through the darkness and noting the trails of dried tears on her cheeks. Scowling, he turned away, hand running through unkempt hair as he stared out into the cavern. "Tch... Metalicana huh?"

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the cave, another figure lurked, a smile gracing their lips as they watched the young man glancing back at the sleeping girl. They quickly ducked out of sight again as he glanced back this way, hands clasped behind and green eyes closing in contentment.

_It's finally time... Gajeel._


	3. Praise

**AN / And here we have chapter three~ Thank you again for the kind reviews everyone. :)**

* * *

"Um, what exactly am I looking for in here again?"

"A book."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down..."

"A big book."

She sighed.

Rummaging through the chest – which she'd now unlocked after Metalicana gave her the location of the key – Levy searched through the array of things. She'd woken up that morning to the sight of a pair of beady eyes intensely watching her, and a dragon nose barely a few feet away. She'd screamed and leapt up and he'd pulled away and knocked his head against a wall which caused a mini avalanche… All in all, a wake-up she wasn't used to nor wished to make a habit of. It didn't help that it took a few moments to realise where she was and that everything that happened yesterday had been real and _not_ a dream as she had hoped.

Swallowing nervously at the sensation of his snout practically at the back of her neck as she searched through the chest, she tried to keep calm, somehow under the feeling he was watching to make sure she didn't do anything to his possessions.

He didn't have much though.

A bunch of books, an odd human trinket here or there such as a watch or china plate – he'd pretended to not notice her curious glances – as well as some smaller locked chests and boxes.

"Oh, is this it?" She asked, picking up the large, black paperback and turning around to show it to him.

He stared at it for a moment. "Perhaps… Who's it written by?"

She glanced at the blank cover before turning it over. "There's just the one name on the back… Zeref."

"That's the one."

"Hm." Prying the book apart, she began skimming the old, worn-out pages before raising an eyebrow. "What language_ is_ this?" Even with her extensive knowledge on the subject, she recognised nothing in here. Only knowing it to be about dragons due to the intricate drawn images inside.

"Not sure. Some ancient language or other involving runes… The writer was some powerful guy rumoured to be a mage who lived centuries ago."

"Mages are just legend." She muttered. A second later she frowned. Then again, she'd thought that about dragons until yesterday which turned out to be false.

"Some of the other books should help you in translating the book."

"Then why couldn't you do this yourself? Even if you are a dragon and can't handle them, surely you could have found somebody else beforhand?"

"Not that easy because they're in a different language as well, and I've yet to come across anybody in the country able to translate such books."

She suppressed a groan, somehow the action of having a book in her hands erased some of the fear she had for the dragon, having an extensive love for books and languages after all. "So let me get this straight, I have to translate the books that will translate this?"

"Indeed."

With a small sigh, she grabbed a few random books, flicking through them. Her frustration eventually vanished however when she began to recognise words. "Hey, I know the basics of most of these languages…" She smiled. "This might actually be doable."

"I'm counting on ya, bookworm."

Huh?

"Bookworm?" She repeated, glancing up with a frown to meet reptilian eyes.

"What? You don't like it?" He grunted.

"Oh, no no! I don't mind it!" She replied hastily, eyes falling back to the book. "Just surprised you came up with a nickname for me is all." Her human friends never called her nicknames, never mind a mighty and legendary dragon. Swallowing nervously again, she kept her eyes trained on the pages.

Silence descended upon them both as she sat flicking through pages in different books, a pair of glasses perched on her nose – she'd dug them out of the chest as well – as she made the odd note with a pen and paper, also courtesy of the chest. Metalicana meanwhile sat in silence, the odd puff of hot breathe against the back of her neck sending shivers down her spine and making her unable to rest easy.

Fortunately he went off a little while later, leaving the cavern all together. She didn't question where he was going – if it was hunting, she didn't really want to know the details. Though, before he did leave, his voice called back to her. "Don't even think of trying to escape, there's no way out." She remained unresponsive, well aware of that but down-heartened to hear it again none the less. Levy sat working for a few more minutes before her attention diverted from the so called work before her, she hadn't even had breakfast yet.

Standing up, she turned around, hesitantly walked forward and glancing around the cavern. Sunlight shone through from the holes in the ceiling, brown eyes wandering over the vast place. Carefully making her way around, she walked deeper into the place, finding other tunnel-like entrances which presumably lead deeper into the mountain.

Just when she was turning to walk back, she saw it.

A flash of blonde hair.

Eyes widening, she spun around, attention focused on the set of rocks where she could have sworn she saw somebody.

"Hello?"

The only sound in response was the echo of her voice.

Could it be... There were other people here?

Or maybe she was seeing things from lack of food and water (though it hadn't been that long since her last - drugged - meal).

Staring at the spot a few minutes longer, she eventually went forward to investigate it to no avail. There was no sign of anybody here and she only ended up tripping and skimming her hands on the floor. Pushing herself onto her knees, she stared at the palms of her hand with a sigh, and running a hand through knotted hair, grimaced at the state of how she'd gotten. With one last glance behind her, she returned to the books. The sooner she translated them, the sooner she got back right? (Or, that's what she was hoping anyway).

"I hate this place."

* * *

"I'm leaving now, mother."

"Alright, make sure to be back by nightfall, you hear?"

"I will." The red haired girl turned to leave the house before stopping, hand resting on the door knob. Glancing back over her shoulder, her eyes fell on the older women, nervously fidgeting before eventually speaking. "That girl from last night..."

A pair of narrowed eyes snapped towards her. "Quiet."

"But-"

"We did what we had to do, Emily. That young girl is gone, and our town is safe. There's nothing we can do for her now."

Chewing her lower lip, Emily glanced down, guilt ever present after seeing the look of betrayal in the blue haired girls face last night when she walked into her room with the rope in her hands. "Okay... I'm going now."

"Be safe."

"I will."

Closing the door behind her, the young woman left the town behind, walking across the fields with a bag slung over her shoulder. She had something to do, and she couldn't return home until she had done it! Walking on for a half hour in the morning sun, she finally came across a field engulfed in white daises, kneeling down and bringing out the book from her bag. The very same book the girl - Levy McGarden, her name had been right? - had purchased yesterday.

Fingers digging into soil, she began to tear the ground up, intent on burying the book as a memorial to the girl who had died for their town.

"I'm sorry..."

No sooner had those words left her lips that she heard it.

Eyes snapping to her right where the first line of trees of the forest stood not too far away, she watched as one by one tree tops disappeared, the snapping of tree trunks reaching her as they fell down to make way for whatever large thing was heading towards her.

Standing up, she took a step back, eyes wide and the book falling from her hands.

When it finally came into view, she stared in horror.

She didn't even get a chance to scream before blood stained the white daises red.

* * *

Levy held a frown on her face as she rummaged through the chest - yes, she'd gone and decided to have another look inside. But so what, it wasn't like he'd said anything _against _it right? With a nod to confirm these thoughts, she leaned forward on her knees and sifted through the items inside it. (Who knows, maybe some food for her growling stomach would turn up inside it).

This dragon sure collected the most random things though…

Rifles, a beer mug, a water feature decoration, random pieces of armour, a miniature stone statue, a notepad containing water coloured paintings…

Weren't dragons supposed to collect huge amounts of golden treasure? Where was the gold, the silver, the huge jewels and diamonds? (Not that Levy wanted to take any of it or anything, she was just surprised at the lack of valuable things was all).

Suddenly her eyes returned to the notepad, and delicately picking it up she began flicking through the pages one by one. The same faces appeared upon multiple pages, the final sheet showing a large group of people stood together. Her eyes wandered over each face, suddenly coming to a young man stood on the fringes of the group. Pulling the page closer, she studied him further, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. He stood tall and brooding, arms folded as he stood beside a young girl with long flowing blue hair who held a white cat in her arms.

Why did he look so familiar?...

Her train of thought was abruptly cut off by a small rumble, and eyes darted upwards at the pointed formations which quivered slightly before going still. She let out a sigh of relief. Maybe she should ask Metalicana to land on ground slightly further away...

Quickly placing all the things back in their chest, she resumed her reading by the time he re-entered. It wasn't like she'd done anything wrong, but… she'd rather just not tell him.

A minute or so later, she heard the tell-tale click of talons on stone, soon followed by his voice. "Bookworm, come out here."

Slowly standing up, she hesitantly left her make-shift "room" and approached him, standing atop a small boulder. "Yes?"

The dragon held a small brown bag hanging from its jaws, and looked as if he was about to speak again when he stopped, eyes suddenly narrowing and nostrils flaring. Levy was left staring in silence as he moved suddenly, body leaping onto rocks, and snout reaching into where she'd slept. A second passed before his head turned around to her, and an overwhelming sense of dread filled her at the anger in his eyes.

As he returned down, cracks surfacing in the rocks beneath his claws digging into the earth, she took several steps back, face pale. "I..." Before she could say anything further, the dragon leapt, her small body smashing to the floor beneath as one clawed hand pressed down on her body, a talon resting above her heart.

Some rock or other collided painfully with her head, vision blurring slightly until the dragon's face looming over her own came into view. Breath hitching in her throat, she stared petrified. Was he going to kill her?

Brown bag now absent from his jaws, his fangs bared down on her. "You looked through the chest."

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came forth.

"No use lyin', I can smell your lingering paws all over those things." He growled, talon digging into the flesh of her chest slightly. Her heart hammered rapidly, pounding within her ears as she tried to not have a panic attack, tears present in her eyes.

She didn't want to die.

"Let's get one thing straight here pipsqueak." He went on, leaning closer and hot breathe floating down onto her face. "You're my hostage here. You're my translator. That's it. Keep your nose outta my things and my business, and I'll keep my claws outta your flesh, gottit?"

Crystal clear.

Instead of speaking however, she simply nodded, lips moving a few times before she finally managed a whisper. "Yes."

"Hn." Pulling away, the pressure of her chest vanished as he walked away. "I brought you breakfast, don't want ya starving. It's littered around here somewhere, pick it up yourself."

Slowly sitting up and hand going to her chest where a red mark remained, eyes wandered around, noticing various fruits that had come unbound from the brown bag upon him dropping it in favour of pinning her to the floor. Rubbing her eyes, she quickly gathered the things, retreating to the mattress and sinking down onto it as she tearfully bit into a piece of fruit.

How much longer would she have to put up with this?...

* * *

Later that night, the dragon awoke, red eyes snapping open and head swiveling around. Catching the flash of blonde hair, his eyes narrowed, following after the figure dressed in white.

Leaving the cavern behind, he walked out onto the grass, reptilian gaze flickering towards a set of rocks. "I know you're there, show yourself."

"Even without the ability to smell me, you noticed my presence here. I'm impressed."

Stepping out from behind their hiding place, the blonde girl smiled at him, hands clasped behind her. "It's been a while, Gajeel."

His only response was a growl.

"Why don't you transform into a human? It would be much easier to speak with one another."

"Like hell I am."

Unperturbed by his snappy replies, she sat atop the rocks, bare feet swinging to and fro. "In the years that have passed, you've retained your human form less and less... I find it rather poetic in mirroring how you seem to have lost some of your humanity." A pause. "And more interesting that the night that girl comes along, is the first night in many that you transform."

His eyes narrowed. How many nights had she been peeping?

"What do you want?"

At those words, her innocent smile dropped, expression suddenly serious and dark gaze giving way to the many years of passing she'd actually seen despite her childish appearance. "If you ever wish to save them, she's the key."

His eyes widened.

"And you would do well to treat her better than you have done. Trust is a much better loyalty than fear, Gajeel. Keep scaring her as you are doing and you might find you never come across the answer to rescuing them."

"And of course you won't give me the answer yourself."

"Because I don't know it." Innocent smile back in place, she hopped onto the ground. "Only that girl can uncover it, even though she doesn't realise it yet." With one last glance his way, she turned and began to walk off. "Till next time, hm? Give my best wishes to the others."

As soon as she left, he snorted, small flames of fire erupting from his nostrils. Trust? It had been a long time since he'd heard that word.

But for the kid to praise this girl so highly...

Just what was she capable of?


	4. Play Nice

**AN / Shortish chapter, but next should be longer.**

* * *

"Translated any of the book?"

She flinched at the voice, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the dragon as she glanced at him. "I've just finished decoding the language of one of the minor books, it should help some in translating the book."

"Hn, can't you work faster?"

Her lips turned down at his less than impressed response. If it had been anybody else, they would have responded in awe, she'd yet to meet anybody else in her life who would be able to translate all of these in as short a time as she was doing.

"I couldn't do any work last night." She responded quietly, staring at the pages before her. "My head got injured on a rock and hurt too much for me to concentrate."

He stared at her, obviously well aware _how_ she'd injured her head. Eyes trailing to the mess of hair atop her head, he noticed the blood staining some of it. Since that "event" two days ago, she seemed to have become much more aware of her situation as being an actual hostage, rarely speaking unless he spoke first and always curling into herself when she sat down.

He'd already emotionally scarred her.

_'Trust is a much better loyalty than fear.'_

He pushed those lingering words away, fear worked perfectly fine. Had done so in the past, and was doing fine right now. She wasn't questioning him anymore, was she?

Just as he thought that, he noted her head had dropped forward, soft snoring accompanying it. With an annoyed growl, he nudged her on the back with his snout, the girl jumping and swiveling around with fright.

"Quit sleeping on the job."

"Sorry." She mumbled, quickly returning to the books, though it didn't go unnoticed how she seemed much less focused than days before.

Probably because she was too scared to fall asleep for long, in case the "big bad dragon" come gobble her up in her sleep.

He growled, this time at his own frustrations though the bluenette flinched all the same.

This was becoming bothersome.

* * *

The next day, when he found her having fallen asleep again, he gave in.

"Oi, wake up shorty."

"E-Eh?" Eyes snapping open, she stared up at him, paling. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Come with me."

She stopped. "Huh..." A pause. "Why?"

"Just come."

She stared at him warily, obviously petrified of him but too scared to stand up for herself as she came none the less came, following him out of the cave till he came to a stop, halting besides him. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, now pipe down."

"But-" Her voice cut off as he whirled around, leaping forward and grabbing her in his hand again before setting off into the sky. She blinked, watching as the ledge grew further and further away from an upside down angle before her eyes flickered upwards towards Metalicana's face, swallowing nervously.

"Don't scream, I ain't gonna kill ya."

"Then where _are_ we going?"

"Down."

"Down?"

As soon as she repeated that phrase, he tucked his wings in, suddenly diving down at a tremendous speed. Eyes squeezing shut, she felt like she was becoming too familiar with the sensation of falling than she should. Flying for a few more minutes, Levy felt as if she was being quite calm to say she was being carried in the grasp of a dragon.

At his next words however, she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

"This is your stop, bookworm."

Eh?

The grip around her middle vanished, eyes widening as she suddenly fell down, Metalicana's form remaining hovering up ahead. T-This had to be a joke right? Like that night before, he was going to come and save her before she fell of course.

But no, he was staying where he was, just watching.

She screamed...

...Only to be swallowed up by water.

Body colliding with the surface, a giant splash was all that was heard as she went under, suddenly finding herself underwater. Blinking several times in confusion, she moved her arms and legs frantically till she broke the surface, taking in a deep breathe and sputtering out water.

What on earth?

Coughing some more, she treaded water as she glanced around, suddenly finding herself in the middle of a small lake. Upon hearing the rumble of ground, she glanced right to find Metalicana landing on the ground, watching her with what she could swear was amusement at her shock.

He really was a sadist, wasn't he?

"Before you start complaining, you wanted a bath, right? Can wash that blood out your hair now."

"Couldn't you have at least let me remove my clothes first?" She wailed back, the weight of such making it more difficult to swim.

"Not my problem."

Frowning for a moment, she sighed, swimming to the shore near some trees and removing her wet clothes which she hung on some branches after washing and rinsing them in the water. It was a hot day and judging by how high the sun was, it must have been some time after noon. Hopefully they'd be dry enough to wear once she was done.

Returning to the lake, she set about doing just what he'd said - bathing. She'd been in the same clothes over three days now and in that time, her head had become like a birds nest. Untangling knot after knot of hair, she grimaced as she fingered the tender bump on her head.

Glancing the dragon's way, she felt confused. One day he was pinning her to the ground and then threatening her; the next he was taking her to a lake to bathe herself despite not having voiced her complaints once.

Just what was he thinking?...

"I wouldn't spend too long in there if I was you."

Still watching him, she frowned. "Why?" He probably wanted her to hurry up and get back to "work".

Suddenly feeling something swim past her leg, she glanced down only to have Metalicana fly forward and grab her out of the water before landing on the opposite shore.

"What did you!-"

"Look."

Glancing back out to where she had just been swimming, she blinked at the splashing water as something frenzied there before vanishing elsewhere.

"Spend too long in there and some fish get restless."

She stared in shock.

"Wouldn't kill ya, but could take a pretty big bite which could do you in if you didn't get proper treatment."

He'd saved her.

Again.

Stumbling onto the ground as he released her, she glanced up at him, studying him with confusion. Noting her staring, he glared. "What?"

"Nothing... Just..." She trailed off, feeling he wouldn't appreciate her pointing out how he'd saved her again. He'd probably make a point of threatening her again or something, who knows. "Um, I never told you my name did I?" She asked, suddenly realising that.

A pause. "No."

"Oh, well I'm Levy. Levy McGarden." She replied, offering a hesitant smile. Even if he had only rescued her because she was his precious "hostage", he'd still rescued her none the less.

"Hn."

If he had been human, he would have cocked an eyebrow at this. He gave her one measly bath, and she was already warming up to him and giving him a smile? He'd never understand her... But he supposed he had to give that blonde kid credit, do something that could be considered 'nice' in any way at all and the girl - Levy - looked much livelier and awake now. All the more good for translating.

"And of course I already know your name-"

"No."

She stared. "Huh?"

Turning his head towards her, he watched as she stared at him in confusion, for once no fear present in her eyes before him. He needed to gain her trust, right? If she felt at ease, all the more quicker she'd get that translating done. "My real name isn't Metalicana."

"But the Mayor-"

"Is wrong."

"I…" She frowned. "I-I don't get it. Where did they get Metalicana from then?"

The dragon remained silent at this, so long infact that Levy thought he'd never answer her. But eventually, he replied, "Metalicana was my father's name."

"Your father?" She gasped.

He sent her a blank look. "Well yes, we dragons do have parents too."

"What? No! I-I knew that!" She cried, her face reddening in embarrassment. "I-I just meant…" She tried grasping for words, blushing even more when he let out a chuckle, too embarrassed to even realise she'd never heard him chuckle - and he too amused to notice he'd let her hear it. In the end she let out a sigh and asked something different, sending him a side-wards glance. "Why do they call you that then? Do dragons inherit their parents' names or something?"

"No."

"Then what-"

"My father died over a hundred years ago."

Silence.

"Oh."

She swallowed, tension suddenly descending on them. A moment passed before a breeze blew by and she shivered.

"Your clothes will be dry by now." He commented. "And I'm guessin' you don't want to keep standing there naked."

She suddenly blushed at the comment, not exactly sure why. He was a dragon, an animal, so it didn't matter if he saw her naked really. But, considering how much intelligence he held, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed now that he pointed out.

Regaining her clothes and quickly putting them on, she returned to him, chewing her lip nervously as the question she wanted to ask burned on the tip of her tongue.

"So… What _is_ your name?" She asked timidly, as she approached him.

He glanced down at her, studying her for a moment and the curiosity in her expression. After a while, he finally replied. "You can call me…"

Her body tensed as she stared up at him, waiting.

"Gajeel."

"Oh, that's all?" She blurted out, eyes widening and hands smacking over her lips when she realised she spoke aloud.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He growled, glaring at her. He'd just gone and told her his fucking real name and she dared to mock him? When she remained quiet, he snorted, flames flickering. **"Speak!"**

"A-Ah! Well it's just... Metalicana... sounds cooler…" She replied sheepishly.

"Well, that's not my name!"

Turning around with her back to him, she held a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking. He calmed, thinking her crying for a moment. "Oi, don't go bawling on me."

A giggle.

As she clamped her hand over her mouth further, eyes squeezed shut in mirth, he growled, noting she was _laughing_ at him instead.

"Ya want me to eat you, shrimp?" Even to his own ears, the threat lacked any validity. They both knew he needed her.

She chuckled.

Fuck trust. He wanted the fear back if it was gonna be like this.

* * *

Later that day after returning to the cave, Levy suddenly lifted her head, glancing out to the dragon - to Gajeel.

"Hey..."

"Hn?"

A pause. "Does anybody else... live here?"

At the obscure question, he glanced over. "What do you mean?"

Rubbing her arm, Levy frowned. "Um, it's just... I thought I saw somebody in here with me the other day." A chuckle. "I was probably seeing things though."

"What did you see?"

"Eh?" She blinked at the sudden wariness in his voice, finding him watching her with an intense gaze. "Oh, um... A flash of blonde hair."

His eyes narrowed.

"_Does_ somebody else live here?" She asked.

A pause. "No."

"Oh." She had a feeling he wasn't letting on everything he knew, but she wasn't going to question him. Just because he'd shown some nice qualities today, didn't mean he would't turn back to using violence again.

So she simply glanced back down and carried on with translating.


	5. Natsu Dragneel

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of update last week, busy things happening and said this would be longer but turned out to only be a 'bit' longer, ended up cutting out a large chunk which seemed unnecessary. **

* * *

"Are you fuckin' stupid?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Ya wanna get killed?"

"I didn't mean-"

"You'd be just a tangle of broken limbs right now if I hadn't appeared to yank you back!"

Levy chewed her lower lip, hands wringing together as she bowed her head. "I just..."

"Just what?" Gajeel snapped.

Hesitating for a moment, Levy then lifted her head, meeting the dragon's gaze. "Well, I thought I saw that blur of blonde hair again... So I was just..." So she'd just followed it in the cave to glance down a shaft, only to suddenly slip and almost forward. If not for Gajeel moving forward and pulling her back by her shirt - a shirt which was now torn all the way down the back - she would most likely be dead by now.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel." She mumbled, offering him an apologetic expression.

"Tch, just be careful, shrimp."

* * *

Two weeks.

That was how long she'd been here by now.

The main thing she'd noted during that duration was that Gajeel was now - tentatively - nicer to her than before. Gruff, yes. But he hadn't done any major yelling at her or violence since last time. It took her a few days before she finally realised why he was doing it.

He was buttering her up.

It was quite amusing actually, a dragon being nice to _her_ - a small human - so that she would translate the book for him faster. After all, he needed her quite obviously and who was to say she wouldn't go jumping off and killing herself in order to get away from the 'big bad dragon'?

Lips quirking at the thought, Levy walked over to her make-shift room, pulling the mangled shirt off and dropping it to the floor with a grimace. She'd managed to keep her clothes clean, Gajeel taking her to the lake every other day - which was quite relaxing - so she still had her shorts and underwear.

"There's some rags in the corner." Gajeel's voice suddenly spoke up. "There should be a large shirt, just put that on."

"Okay!" Walking over to the said things, Levy lifted one up, nose wrinkling slightly at the crinkled shirt as she held it with an out-stretched arm. Well, it was still clothing. With a sigh, she eventually pulled the thing over her head, the dark shirt falling to just above her knees, rolling up the sleeves so she could at least see her hands. Well, being so small, the thing seemed more like a dress than anything else.

Coming back into view, she glanced down at Gajeel. "What do you think?"

"Hn." He didn't even glance over. Well, he _was_ a dragon, she doubted he was interested in fashion.

Her smile dampened slightly as she sat on the mattress, pulling a book into her lap. Now she was wearing worn out clothes to match her drab living space. It was almost as if she becoming more ingrained into this unsettling life.

Fingering one of the pages before her, she glanced down at the words blankly, wondering how those back at her home town were doing. Did they know she was missing by now? Were they out searching for her? Sighing at such thoughts, she let her attention refocus on the book, it wouldn't do well to worry on those things. She only stressed out and ended up being unable to concentrate.

The book in her lap was the one written by that powerful mage Zeref. After translating parts of it, she'd come to find it very interesting with endless information on dragons. Dragon languages, how dragons lived, the magic they held (Gajeel had at that point gotten annoyed and ripped the pages out, telling her to find something interesting in there that he didn't already know, the air was a bit frosty between the two for a while after that). The images drawn inside were intricate and beautiful too, if Levy didn't know any better, she would have though them beautiful and wise creatures - knowing Gajeel made her think otherwise of course.

But even with these piles of books and work to consume herself in it was hard to not get lonely in this cave, especially when Gajeel went out hunting for hours (she presumed that's what he did since she never saw him eat whilst with her).

So, seeing as nobody but her and Gajeel resided there, it was a bit of a surprise to the petite young woman when when a stranger entered the cavern one day...

* * *

She'd been sat reading a random novel she'd found buried beneath the many paperbacks, dressed in the over-sized t-shirt and sat with her legs crossed when she felt it. The cavern rumbling, pieces of ceiling began falling to the ground, a few stalactites dangerously quivering above. Immediately she scowled, it was a good thing she was in this makeshift room… One of those falling chunks could have knocked her on the head!

Damn him! Hadn't she told him to land further away? This time he must have landed right next to the entrance to cause such a loud stir!

Snapping her book closed, she stood up ready to give the dragon a good talking to-

"Hello?"

…or maybe not.

Freezing on the spot, she listened in silence.

"Gajeel? You there?"

The voice unfamiliar, Levy swallowed and began to tip toe forward slightly. Moving further into the cavern and hiding behind a boulder, footsteps echoed as the stranger began walking in. Who was it? Crouching down, she shuffled over a bit to peek over and stare at the person.

A man.

Eyes blinking, she took in the young stranger who couldn't be that much older than herself. Sighing, he placed both hands behind his head as he glanced around the place, seemingly looking for something or someone. Levy bit her lip nervously, so this was an acquaintance of Gajeel then?

Just as his gaze got a bit too close to where she was hiding, she ducked down, unfortunately knocking her foot against a collection of rocks in the process.

"Who's there?"

Dammit.

"Gajeel? That you?"

She hesitated.

"Nah, Gajeel's heartbeat doesn't beat so fast."

What the hell?

Just as she was wondering what kind of weirdo could hear heart beats – then again he could just be saying nonsense – a face popped above the boulder. He stared at her for a second before grinning. "Hey!"

Backing up several feet, Levy stared warily at the intruder as he clambered over and jumped down. Brushing his clothing down, he then turned and held up a hand in offering. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Natsu Dragneel!"

She stared at the hand for a moment before glancing at his expression. He seemed friendly… And he knew Gajeel so he couldn't be _that_ bad - she used that lightly though, knowing full well Gajeel had a nasty temper.

Eventually telaxing into a smile, she took his hand, causing him to grin as she did so. "I'm Levy, Levy McGarden."

After the firm handshake, he took a step back and observed her. "Human huh?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes." She smiled sheepishly, hands clasped behind. "I'm um… kinda helping Gajeel with something at the moment."

He raised an eyebrow. "He told you his name?"

"Yes… Why?"

A shrug before he obviously changed the topic. "Anyway, where's Gajeel?"

"Out. I don't know where."

"Huh." He frowned. "Guess I'll just wait around."

A sudden thought appeared. "Wait, does that mean the room's for you?"

"Eh?"

Turning around she walked back to absent chunk of wall. "This." She said, waving a hand in gesture towards it. "It's all human stuff, and over there are loads of male clothing – this is where I got what I'm wearing now from." She glanced back at him. "Does he have all this here for when you visit?"

Natsu frowned, staring at her confusion. "Huh? What d'ya mean? This room's his…"

"But he's a dragon."

"So?"

"What use would a dragon have with a human bed?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip.

His eyes widened at this. "Ooooh…"

"You get it now?"

"I get it, I get it." He grinned in amusement. And Levy couldn't help but feel she was missing out on some inside joke. Before she could question this however, a voice that she was definitively familiar with spoke up.

"Oi, bookworm!"

Jumping slightly at the sudden yell, she glanced at Natsu before walking past and out of the room to give a wave.

When he spotted her, Gajeel frowned. "What happened here? There are chunks of ceiling on the floor."

Huh, now that she thought about it… What _was_ that about? Gajeel hadn't been the one to land so close otherwise he'd have come in before Natsu, and there wasn't any other dragon able to make such a rumble…

"Bookworm?"

"Hey, Gajeel!" Natsu yelled.

The dragon blinked, taking in the sight of the newcomer. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey, is that anyway to treat me after I came all the way here to visit your sorry ass?"

Levy glanced at Gajeel. "How do you know him?"

His eyes flickered from her to Natsu. "An old acquaintance."

So he was holding information huh? She frowned.

"Come on idiot, we can talk outside…"

Levy didn't even try to hide her disappointment as the two vanished outside and obviously excluded her, Natsu sent her an apologetic glance but followed after Gajeel.

She was alone again.

With a sigh, she turned and walked back over to her bed, maybe she could read more to pass the time…

As she passed the chest however, she stopped. Her eyes drifting back to it as something nagged at her mind. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was rummaging through the things. She hadn't forgotten the last time she did this she almost ended up with a concussion but she was _had_ to find this, it felt too important.

Where was it, where was it, where was- oh! A calligraphy set! Wait. No! Ah, there it was!

Picking the sketchpad up, she flicked through the pages.

Her suspicions were right. Swallowing thickly, she stared down at the page of the laughing pink haired boy.

Natsu…

* * *

"We can talk here."

Natsu grinned as he sat beside Gajeel on the grassy plain. "Why you in that form? Cm'on, turn back blockhead."

Gajeel snorted but made no move to do so.

Natsu frowned, folding his arms in something similar to a sulk. "You always were stubborn."

"Shut up Salamander. I prefer this form."

The young teen glanced ahead, frown melting into smile at the nice breeze in the air as he closed his eyes and enjoyed it for a moment. A few minutes passed by before he hesitatingly spoke, "That girl…" He stopped, glancing at Gajeel to judge his reaction. The dragon didn't seem ready to blow up at him so he considered it safe to go on. "How'd you meet her?"

"Some town knocked her out, tied her up and then tried to sacrifice her to me."

Natsu stared with wide eyes. He honestly didn't know if he was joking or being sarcastic.

"Okay." He replied, eyebrow cocked. "Then how'd she end up joining you?"

At this, Gajeel glanced down at him. "She's smart."

"Smart?"

"Yeah… She's translating that book we found."

Natsu let out a low whistle. "Wow, she can translate that?"

"Told ya she was a brainiac."

Natsu grinned. "Found anything worthwhile in the book?"

"Not yet…"

His grin faded. "Dammit…" Running a hand through pink locks, he sighed. "I haven't found anything useful either. Nobody's seen any sign of him since then…"

Gajeel's expression darkened, "How's Wendy?"

"Hm?" Natsu sighed. "Same as us both, coping. She keeps on smiling but it's obviously fake… I don't think any of us are gonna be happy till we get everybody back."

"Everybody, huh…"

Natsu's eyes narrowed and he punched a fist into his open hand. "We'll get them back no matter what."

Had he had a human face, Gajeel would have been grinning.

"We'll kill that thieving bastard."

"Exactly. It's as Wendy says, all together they were the most valuable people to us." Natsu explained, determination burning in his gaze. "And everybody knows you never steal a dragon's treasure and get away with it."


End file.
